Plant Doctor Archive

Name that poppy

My poppies have gone mad. Four years ago they were ordinary poppies with a single layer of petals. Since then they have been growing with more and more petals inside the ordinary outer layer of petals. I have been saving the seed from these 'double' flowers, and this year I have poppies that look like a huge aster flower. Is this normal or do I have the next famous sport in my garden?

These poppies are Papaver somniferum (opium poppy) and are usually sold as double poppies. They can have single flowers, but are more usually double in shades of pink, purple, white or red. They are annuals and so the seed needs to be collected each year and resown.

Advice by Dr Dan Blanchon from Unitec's Diploma in Sustainable Horticulture and Bachelor of Resource Management.

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